Speaker notes are a great way to share important information with your audience. They can be used in presentations to help explain complex concepts, answer questions, or provide feedback. Here are a few tips on how to use speaker notes in PowerPoint:

  1. Start by creating a new slide and naming it “Speaker Notes.” This slide will serve as your main display area for speaker notes.
  2. On the left side of the slide, create a list of key points that you want to share with your audience. This list should be short and easy to understand.
  3. Next, create a table that will contain all of the information you need to share on this slide. This table should have the following fields: name (the name of the slide), date (the date on which the note was created), location (where the note was created), and type (such as “comment”).
  4. In order for your audience to understand what you’re saying, you’ll need to provide some additional information about each point on this slide. For example, you might include an image or video clip that explains what the point is about. You can also include brief explanations in parentheses after each key point so that your audience can better understand what they’re seeing onscreen.
  5. Finally, make sure that everything on this slide is in one place so that it’s easy for your audience to see and follow along with your presentation!

Adding speaker notes to a PowerPoint presentation provides reference material for the speaker when they’re presenting a slideshow, allowing them to stay on track without forgetting key message points. Here’s how to add and use speaker notes.

Add Speaker Notes in PowerPoint

To add speaker notes in PowerPoint, you’ll first need to be in the Normal view. If you’re not already there, you can switch to Normal view by going to the “View” tab and then selecting “Normal” in the “Presentation Views” group.

Next, in the pane on left, select the slide where you’d like to add speaker notes.

Next, click the “Notes” button at the bottom of the window.

A small box reading “Tap to Add Notes” will appear beneath the slide. For Mac users, this will say “Click to Add Notes.”

Now, simply type the speaker notes for that slide. Repeat this process for each slide you’d like to add notes to.

Use Speaker Notes During a PowerPoint Presentation

There are two ways to use speaker notes during a presentation: by presenting on a secondary monitor or by printing out the speaker notes.

Using a Secondary Monitor

It’s safe to assume that most presentations will be presented on a secondary monitor. If this is the case for you, there’s not a whole lot you really need to do.

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The first thing you need to do is change the view to Slide Show. You can do this by selecting the Slide Show icon at the bottom-right corner of the window.

In this view, the audience will see only the slides as you’re going through the presentation. However, on your primary monitor, you’ll see the current slide, a preview of the upcoming slide, and your speaker notes for the current slide.

This is a convenient way to have a virtual copy of the speaker notes while you’re giving a presentation, but it never hurts to have a hard copy.

Printing the Speaker Notes

To print the speaker notes of your presentation, first select the “File” tab in the Ribbon.

RELATED: How to Print Multiple PowerPoint Slides to Each Piece of Paper

In the pane on left, select the “Print” button.

In the “Settings” group, select the option that says “Full Page Slides.”

A drop-down menu will appear. Here, select “Notes Pages” in the “Print Layout” group.

Finally, click “Print.”

You’ll now have a physical copy of your speaker notes.